Into the Night …

Thurston Moore und Phil Collins

The indie rock icon Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) and the British video artist Phil Collins spent on the occasion of the “Pop Culture Festival” one night together in Berlin. On the way they meet the former RAF member Astrid Proll and the artist Scott King. A lively exchange with beer and cigarettes about art, music and the love for the German capital.

The Pop Culture Festival in Berlin brings together various artists to the stages of Neukölln and stimulates a interdisciplinary exchange. Entirely in the spirit of “Into the Night With…” that connects two of the most exciting artists of the festival.

The New Yorker musician Thurston Moore, who’s always in the top 20 lists of the best guitarists in the world, contributed decisive impulses to indie rock. The British video artist and photographer Phil Collins inspires with his political interactive artworks that gained him a Turner Prize nomination in 2006.

Collins, who teaches at the Cologne school of arts for media, lives in Berlin and there he welcomes the Londoner-by-choice Moore. Both have the greatest respect for each others’ work so that a lively exchange between them arises quickly.

Together they visit the popular video installation “Manifesto” in Hamburger Bahnhof by Julian Rosefeldt which Cate Blanchett performs in a dozen roles for. At least equally impressed the both are by meeting the photographer and former RAF member Astrid Proll. Later that evening the artist Scott King shows them his collection of rock memorabilia. But Collins and Moore have their doubts: Is that really Kurt Cobains’ lighter or does King fib a little?

The last stop of the night is the bar “Das Gift” in Neukölln which Collins runs together with a member of the band Mogwai. Here Thurston Moores partner, the publisher of Eva Prinz, accompanies the Bristish-American duo. In an exuberant atmosphere the amusing and very entertaining interdisciplinary night finds its ending.